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Home » ColumnsEthanol debate: Minister gets unexpected support from Chamara Sampath
Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Sunil Handunnetti found an unexpected ally in Badulla District New Democratic Front (NDF) Parliamentarian Chamara Sampath Dassanayake during an exchange in Parliament on Thursday regarding the government’s decision to increase the price of ethanol to Rs. 800 a litre. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem pointed out that [...]
In good company
My dear Mahindananda, I thought of writing to you because you hit the headlines last week, being sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, no less. Although there was all this talk about ‘horu allanawa’ or catching thieves, I must admit the news about you – and your partner in crime Nalin – came as [...]
What ails our passenger transport system? Resurrecting the ‘murdered’
By Sandun Jayawardana The importance of improving the country’s passenger transport system for the public’s benefit was the focus when Parliament debated the National Transport Commission (Amendment) Bill on Thursday (5). Opening the debate, Minister of Transport and Highways Bimal Rathnayake wondered aloud whether the country’s transport sector is progressing or regressing given it does [...]
Political distractions could undermine economic reforms, recovery and growth
The government’s preoccupation with politics could distract it from the adoption and implementation of economic policies needed to cope with serious economic challenges facing the country and focus on the issues of economic development. There is a growing popular perception that the government is being distracted from the economic challenges and the formidable tasks of [...]
The Dissanayake pardon; sins of the past and blunders of the present
Are pardons issued to prisoners convicted of grave monetary crimes or corrupt acts by the President of Sri Lanka acceptable simply because they are issued as part of group presidential pardons granted on numerous religious holidays that scatter our national calendar? Not just a pardon of a minor offender This question is asked whimsically following [...]
From war to humanity: What Israel can learn from Sri Lanka’s wartime conduct
As the world watches in horror and helplessness the destruction of Gaza, with thousands of civilians—predominantly women and children—killed in relentless bombardments and siege, Israel’s war conduct has increasingly drawn comparisons to other counterinsurgency campaigns. But one little-acknowledged comparison stands out: Sri Lanka’s long, bloody conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), one [...]
UNP, SJB stand united in battle to triumph Colombo’s mayoralty
The news, of course, should have come earlier when it really may have mattered. But destiny unfolds, the tryst is kept, and the rendezvous made, not at a time or place of mortal choosing but at a moment decreed by Fates. But when news came, though belated, of the UNP and SJB transcending their [...]
Then I saw stars and did so for many a time
It was May First, 1962. To many who were employed in the mercantile sector and those who led the trade unions at the time, it was a crucial day in the year when all the demands of the working class—to put it broadly—were articulated from every public platform from Galle Face Green to Price Park [...]
Govt.’s anti-corruption drive on top gear
President issues tough warning to state officials: Stay corruption-free or step aside But the controversy over the release of 323 containers without inspection haunts NPP Administration formed in 161 councils; the battle goes down to the wire in other councils By our Political Desk Eradicating corruption is one of the primary goals set out [...]
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